Fort Lauderdale makes 'greenest' cities list

As Fort Lauderdale continues its effort to transform itself into an environmentally-friendly city, several environmental initiatives are starting to receive recognition from people and organizations outside the city.

A recent report ranked Fort Lauderdale fifth among the nation's "10 Greenest Mid-Size Cities," according to a survey released by MyLife.com.

"Our quality of life and our economic viability are directly linked to a clean environment," said Matt Little, a spokesperson for the city. "The 'Greenest City' ranking helps to nationally showcase the city's proactive approach toward protecting our environment. Hopefully, Fort Lauderdale will inspire other cities to take action."

Fort Lauderdale latest endeavor to help keep the environment clean is to host a free household hazardous waste and electronics drop-off event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 7 at Mills Pond Park, 2201 NW Ninth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale.

The drop off events help prevent the hazardous waste from being improperly thrown away to help reduce the volume of waste in landfills while also preventing the contamination of ground water.

"The event is one component of the city's 'Green Your Routine,' public outreach campaign to provide responsible options for our residents to protect the environment," Little said.

Also at the event, the city will be offering free, on-site document shredding at the event to help protect residents from identify theft and residents can also drop off expired medication pills.

By offering residents a place to properly dispose of unwanted medication, the event also helps keep the pills out of the environment and water supply because most residents aren't aware that they're not supposed to flush or throw away expired medications. According to the Broward Sheriff's Office, the medication take back events also help reduce drug overdoses with approximately 70 percent of accidental prescription overdoses among teenagers occurring from pills in a medicine cabinet of a parent or grandparent. Pet medications, prescription inhalers, vitamins as well as liquids, ointments, creams and shampoos are also available to be dropped off. Prohibited items include aerosol cans, bandages, chemotherapy/radioactive substances, medical waste and syringes.

"Uniting our residents behind an all-inclusive vision of sustainability will be key to keeping our promise of providing our children and generations to come with a bright future," Little said.

For information on the hazardous waste and medication drop off event, call 954-828-8000 or visit http://www.FortLauderdale.gov/hhw.